Ian flies the world

The fiftieth state

17 May 1990 Air New Zealand 15 Los Angeles to Honolulu,
Business

After our brief stay on the West Coast it was nearly time
to travel on. A late evening flight would take us to Honolulu,
where we were due to arrive in the middle of the night. Before
that, we had an exciting day in Los Angeles. It's always
exciting to be in a city and find you can't track down your
passport, and this is what happened to my wife. A thorough
search of the hotel room revealed nothing, and careful thought
also drew a blank. A taxi was therefore summoned to take us to
the British Consulate. They were sympathetic, asking us when we
would be leaving Los Angeles. The answer was not too well-
received, as there is no consulate in Honolulu. Never mind,
continued the representative, where would we be going after
that? The news that we would be travelling to Fiji and on to
Vanuatu for a new job was greeted with a something along the
lines that we really weren't making things easy for her. My wife
started to fill in the forms for a passport for her and for our
son, and had some photographs taken. Filling in forms with a
ten-month old son is not easy at the best of times, but we
managed. In the absence of the necessary certificates, it was
not going to be easy. Our helper disappeared into a back office,
and came back with something in her hand, mumbling that it would
certainly be difficult to provide a new passport, but what would
be possible would be a passport looking very like the old one.
As she flicked through the pages more and more obviously, we saw
that it was, in fact, the missing passport, which had been
handed in just a couple of hours earlier by the man who had
found it. Of course, we were very grateful that it had been
found, and I expect the lady at the consulate was too. It would
save her a fair amount of work too.

Soon after that, we set off to the airport to look around.
I took a couple of minutes to telephone the man who had found
the passport. It seems he found it by a bench outside Mann's
Chinese Theater. While looking at it, some Hispanics had
snatched it from him, saying they could use it to make copies
for profit. He snatched it back, saying that was illegal, and it
belonged to somebody. Just as they were wondering what to do
next, his bus came so he got on it...I thanked him very much for
his kindness, explaining how stuck we would have been without
it.

Los Angeles International Airport is undoubtedly a large
one, and we had plenty to observe. Many carriers not often seen
in Europe were there, making it well worth seeing.

Travelling with Air New Zealand in their Business Class,
we were able to take advantage of the Club Pacific lounge, a
quiet place with quantities of soft and hard drinks, snack food
and newspapers. Air New Zealand obviously look after the lounges
they own better than they can look after the ones they share.

Incidentally, it is most unusual to be able to fly a
United States domestic sector with a non-United States airline.
We were allowed to do so because we were travelling to Los
Angeles from a point outside the United States, or travelling
from Honolulu to a point outside the United States with the same
carrier. Actually, we were doing both, which made it even
better. Many people must do this, because there were a large
number of passengers on the flight.

I couldn't really comment on the in-flight service on this
flight, because I didn't take much advantage of it. It was very
late in the evening that we took off, after eleven if I recall,
and we landed at Honolulu at 03:00, seven hours later.

The bright lights of Honolulu and the heat of the tropical
night assailed us as we tried to find a courtesy bus to take us
to the hotel. We couldn't find one. The buses wanted USD 5 to
take us downtown, and were not interested when they saw how much
baggage we had. For USD 15 we took a cab, and not long
afterwards we were checking in at the hotel, the Miramar at
Waikiki. I have no complaint here, except to say that I felt USD
15 per night for the hire of a cot, or rather a crib, seemed
excessive.

Two nations separated by a common language suffer one
again. A camp-bed becomes a cot, and a cot becomes a crib as one
travels west. Crisps become chips and chips become French fries.
Jam becomes jelly, jelly becomes jello. An American who is mad
about his flat is more likely to be angry about a puncture than
elated by an apartment. I could carry on, but will not. Enough
books exist on this subject.

We didn't rise particularly early the next morning, but
spent a leisurely day just looking around. Waikiki beach is
certainly over-rated, but a trip on one of the many catamarans
is worthwhile. The trips last about an hour, and food and drink
are included in the price paid. Other features of the Polynesian
lifestyle which we shared were mostly thanks to the tours.
Polynesian Adventure Tours was the company we used most, taking
us among other places to Pearl Harbor and the Polynesian
Cultural Center. The latter was certainly worth a longer visit
than we were able to give it. This place recreates the customs
of seven different Polynesian countries, attempting to keep
their dying heritage alive. I must admit that I enjoyed Hawaii
more than I expected. I write this too soon, however, because we
have two more flights before we leave Hawaii.

The fiftieth of the United States is strictly called
Hawaiian Islands and consists of around seven major islands.
Honolulu, including Waikiki is to be found on the island of
Oahu, while Kona is on the island of Hawaii, often referred to
as the Big Island, to distinguish it from the state as a whole.

One feature of the Pacific lifestyle which takes getting
used to is the fact that the day starts much earlier than it
does in Europe. The people at the tour desk scarcely batted an
eyelid when they told us what time the flight to Kona on the Big
Island of Hawaii left, and what time that meant our pickup would
be. We were surprised, however, and realised that a full-day
excursion means just that. I wonder what would have happened if
just before I had signed the contract for the job in Vanuatu,
somebody had tapped me on the shoulder and asked me whether I
realised that the working day started at 07:30. Would I still
have signed on the dotted line? In fact, we all get used to
changes like that very quickly. But I have digressed again.

We went to the inter-island terminal, stopping outside the
lei stalls on the way. For those who do not know, a lei is a
traditional, ceremonial Polynesian necklace, usually made out of
flowers. Sometimes these days, the flowers are fabric, but fresh
leis are obviously more desirable. While in Hawaii, each member
of the family bought one. Mine was made of dark-coloured nuts,
the name of which escapes me. These were used in the old days
only by chiefs and kings. Be that as it may, I think they are
much more appropriate for male wear. Some leis are made of
shells, but that is another story.

For those of you who do not know, Aloha, from which the
airline takes its name, is the greeting used almost universally
within Hawaii. It is apparently a word formed from two Hawaiian
words, alo, meaning the constant spiritual companion who is with
you, and ha meaning the spirit which a dying man will pass to
you by breathing into your mouth, magically giving you all his
wisdom.

Anyhow, we checked in for the flight. Aloha runs a great
many flights, but they all seem to be inter-island flights,
nearly all carrying tourists only. This flight was on a 737,
which had a couple of rows of comfortable seats at the front,
referred to as First Class. Our seats were not in this part of
the aircraft. Even so, we did receive complimentary fruit juice
on the flight. Judging by the inclusive price of the tour, the
flight itself was reasonably priced, too.

After arrival at the small airport at Kona, we were
quickly collected by the tour bus, which was to take us around
the Big Island. Everywhere in Hawaii, and especially on the Big
Island, you will encounter macadamia nuts. Australians are quick
to point out that macadamia nuts are not native to Hawaii. These
large nuts are delicious, and often sold covered in chocolate,
coffee, honey or whatever. These are certainly good things to
eat. Mauna Loa is the brand I would choose. The Volcano National
Park on Big Island is surely also worth a visit, though the area
was lacking in current volcanic activity the day we were there.

Even so, the day was an interesting one, certainly, and it
was almost dark before we were brought back to the airport for
the return flight.

The airport is best described as tiny and open air, and
the most incongruous thing there was a wide-bodied United
Airlines jet which would be stopping at Honolulu on its way back
to the West Coast. It is a daily flight, which presumably has
sufficient demand to make it pay its way. This comes as quite a
surprise to me.

However, we were to make our way back on an Aloha flight.
This one was much more crowded than the morning flight had been;
indeed I think nearly every seat was taken. Tourism is big
business in Hawaii. The flight, the return to the hotel and the
evening were much as expected. Life in Hawaii seemed strange in
some ways. It is a very pleasant place to visit, but more so
than anywhere else I have ever been, it seems very transient in
its outlook. Everybody seemed to be either a tourist or employed
directly or indirectly by the tourist machine. No permanence was
to be found there. Also, it was the first place I had ever
visited where the main languages did not all use the Latin
script with which I grew up. Japanese is undoubtedly the real
second language, even if officially they claim it to be
Hawaiian.